AgdaPkt 2005-09-12 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

/,/I-¿ Legislative Bill Action ............................................................... The following are summaries of just a few of the legislative bills that are currently being acted upon by the League of California Cities. For more information about these and other bills, please visit the League website to access information about legislation, policy issues and related develop- ments. You can track information on bills (www.cacities.org/billsearch), locate legislators and legislative committees, send letters to legislators or the media through the online Advocacy Center (www.cacities.org/advocacycenter), research League policy positions, access useful related links, and much more. ENVIRONMENTAL AB 1665 (Laird). Flood Control. Levees. AB 1665 is a two-year bill and will not be heard or moved this year. In its current form, AB 1665 begins the process of addressing the status of the state's flood control and levee system, including requiring mapping of potential flood inundation zones, notification of property owners in those zones and information gathering about the status of the levees and their ability to protect public health, safety and property. AB 1665 became a two-year bill because it did not get the necessary rule waiver to be heard this week in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee. More information on the details of AB 1665 and the general issue of levees and flood protection was included in last week's issue of Priority Focus. Staff: Yvonne Hunter; Status: Pending in Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee (two-year bill); Position: Review and Comment. SB 655 (Ortiz). Naturally Occurring Asbes- tos. SB 655 is intended to ensure that development and other projects in areas that have naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) incorporate mitigation measures to reduce dust and exposure to airborne asbestos. NOA is an evolving health issue that is only now being recognized as a serious problem. The League has engaged in extensive discus- sion with the author's office, other local government organizations and other stakeholders to explore how to make the bill work without restricting local government regulatory authority or imposing inap- propriate conditions on local governments within areas containing naturally occurring asbestos. In that spirit, the League offered several amendments that would address the League's concems regarding maintaining local regulatory authority and discretion, while at the same time ensuring appropriate notice and implementation of best management practices designed to mitigate development in areas with natural occurring asbestos. The author's office has accepted those amendments with some minor modifications and they will go into the bill on the Assembly Floor. The League has indicated that if our amend- ments are accepted, we will be neutral on SB 665; if they had not been accepted, we would have opposed the bill. Since the author intends to accept other amendments, the League will wait to review the entire package before formally adopting a neutral position. In addition to requiring the State Geologist to map those counties with naturally occurring asbestos, SB 655 would require the California Environmental Protection Agency to convene a Task Force to compile and distribute advisory best management practices that can be used to mitigate the impacts of naturally occurring asbes- tos, would require disclosure to purchasers that property is located in a NOA zone zones and would require cities and counties to amend their general plan safety elements to reflect NOA zones, once the mapping is complete. PAGE 6/PRIORITV FOCUS Visit the League's Official Website -- www.cacities.org